WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

PERSONAL, COMMUNAL & PLANETARY WELL BEING

REAL, IMMEDIATE & CLOSESense of true safety, sense of true freedom, sense of true community, sense of true inclusiveness with each other, a true sense of peace within self. Do you think these traits are improving with time, or deteriorating instead?

From what I have read, seen, and heard from facts and anecdotal accounts, almost everything is pointing to a deterioration. But more alarmingly, there does not seem to be a turnaround point that reverses this deterioration.

And I have seen the toll caused by some or by all these deteriorations play out on the individual level. And all symptoms are pointing to the conclusion people are getting increasingly distressed, day by day, or sometimes, news by news. However, this distressed state plays out in two big ways; holding it in until a unsuspecting trigger causes an avalanche (road rage), or turning to compensations such as addiction to a reward (shopping is a mild form, alcoholism is an extreme form); but escapism of any form won't address the issue nor make it go away.

(THE VICTIM, THE SURVIVOR AND THE NAVIGATOR)

In an organizational workshop, it was suggested that when change is inevitable, about a 1/4 of the population view change from the lens of a victim ( 'Why me?'), another 1/2 would view from the lens of a survivor ('I'll do enough to get by to live another day'), and the remaining 1/4 would view change from the lens of a navigator ('How can I make lemonade from lemons, harnessing the intelligence behind the chaos').

So, if you sailed your ship inadvertently into a reef, and had to pick a partner to not only get you out of this trouble but to also prevent future ones, who would you pick? The only one in this bunch that is skilled enough for this task is the Navigator, as he is the only one schooled in the 3 R's of change- Reawaken, Re-orient, and Re-energize.

Armed with the 3 R's, the Navigator is the only one who can see a path through this maze of chaos. He has the instinct to know what the situation calls for, and he is able to commit in a way that does not deplete his resources in an irreversible manner. He does so by first awakening to the fact that he is in crisis that needs immediate attention, and any delay would swamp his boat, causing irreversible damage. He then re-orients his boat away from danger. And finally, he engages in a re-energized way, pulling his oars away from danger with gusto as the dividend of true and long lasting safety materializes before him.

Imagine if you had a victim or a survivor piloting instead? The victim would give you an earful of words, lacking coherent instructions, with each protestation. The survivor would pilot far enough to be free of the current crisis, but no where near enough to prevent you from being carried back to the reefs sooner or later. Neither pilot would liberate you from the danger in a real and sustained way. All these stops and starts, with random gains at best, leads to exhaustion. And when we are exhausted, our resources dwindle to the point we no longer care beyond our local needs, and thus, we disconnect from each other. We are left with little choice but to check out out of self preservation, knowing that personal exhaustion (including the mental exhaustion from not seeing a clear path to complex issues) has it's limits in interfering with our pursuits of happiness that are much closer, more real, and more immediate. So, Polar bears drowning in melting oceans cannot compete with the immediate interest of our home front issues, anymore than one can find caviar in a dumpster.

However, we all have seen a victim, a survivor, and a navigator show themselves from within, but who shows up to pilot our change is based on how we perceive change for it's difficulty and complexity. If we are able to see a clear path from chaos to liberation using the 3 R's, that resistance drops, and the Navigator within comes alive. And this can only happen when we first re-awaken to see that the reef in this case is our past and exhaustive methods that are not working, and that to repeat them is Insanity (1).

Secondly, we must then re-orient ourselves- away from this reef of failed and exhaustive methods- and towards the open and productive calmer seas, a part of the ocean that capitalizes on frugal actions that bring larger results. And lastly, we re-energize ourselves further as we move from being stuck in gear- changing on the reef to seeing the smooth and fast sailing we clearly recognize as a productive use of resources. All this allows us to go longer, faster. We can then go for the bigger prize.

And the failed results of the past don't repeat themselves, unlike the many contestants in 'The Biggest Loser'- a reality show that pits contestants against each other for losing the most amount of weight consistently- who regain their lost weight post contest. We avoid the same failing and exhaustive ways that are trying to solve the problem from the level it was created but totally misses the original cause, in this particular case, their weight gain. Instead, we go after the root cause instead of just stamping out the symptoms (losing weight for it's sake is nothing more than counteraction that simply stamps out the symptoms, addressing emotional overeating is a root cause repair- one out of many causes- that leads to longer lasting results).

We stop running on quick sand that had caused us to expend lots of amounts of energy that could only yield random, indiscriminate, and temporary gains, gains not sustaining in a real way but only leaves us burnt out. And thus, we now can sustain results for ourselves, causing us to feel increasing energy, hope, and optimism. But these improvements are only possible from having us reconnect with our navigator self that heeds the intelligent use of resources. Dividends are now no longer a happenstance but designed with intention.

REAL, IMMEDIATE & CLOSE (CONTINUED)And when we introduce sustained results within us, reconnecting us to ourselves, our relationships with our friends and family cannot avoid but change with it. Just as much as disconnection breeds disconnection, reconnection with self breeds reconnection with those who are near and dear to the circle of our well being. And when they can see our renewed and genuine interest in them as co-creators of a new and sustainable way that brings improvement to the list above, they awaken to their inner most but unsatiated needs. The ripple effect deepens and spreads even further.Would you know of a Barbarian who would refuse this offer of going after what has alluded them with past methods or thinking? Neither do I, nor have I met anyone who would turn down this offer.

And by enjoining ourselves to this path of co creating happiness, we can now see the forest from the trees that points out that the struggle from Chaos to Liberty is a fight to save ourselves from ourselves, work that can only be done by ourselves.We can then see tending to our nest nestled in high tree without keeping the tree's (and our) environment clean- causing the tree to die and topple, drowning our nest in water- is much like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while it scraps against the iceberg. Instead, we can now steer ourselves from icebergs than find ourselves abandoning ship.

We truly become the change we seek.

(1) Insanity- repeating the same methods or thinking, but expecting a different result than what it previously could provide.

"I was running around in circles, waving my hands in the air, dealing full time with symptoms. I am (now) able to deal with my world from a different perspective. Me and myself is the biggest connection I need"- Linda R., Novi MI, Level 1.

"(The Scales Exercise) revealed deeply unconscious primitive level fears and actions, and revealed the true cost of holding onto old structure programming. The fog of illusory threats have been wiped clear. I can clearly see reality. My new weapon is the light of understanding and awareness. "- Leah L., Fenton MI, Level 3.

"...I learned things about myself that I really didn't have the awareness of. I do a lot of looking within, but with this Scales model I really did come out with some new information that I hadn't had access to before "- Pat F., Ann Arbor MI, Video Testimonial.

"(Facilitator) was very effective in getting me to help understand the hurt, giving more clarity to my hurt feelings. I didn't realized how much hurt I still felt because I was hiding the hurt"- Louise A., Alger MI, Level 1.

COMMUNITY:

"I hadn't spoken to an aunt for 20 years because of bad blood. I had to overcome my fears, to break through my fear of being rejected. My aunt responded very favorably and was happy to hear from me. She is 86 and she had lost all communication with the family and it was very important and very healing to her"- Rosemary P., Davison MI, Video Testimonial.

"(The Scales Exercise) reveals from the unconscious what we need to problem solve as we go forward. And if we start with one person problem solving, then they are going to share that with their environment, and that environment is going to get bigger. It's like a pebble dropped into a pond, the ripples are going to be impactful...there is no way to avoid it"- Linda R., Novi MI, Level 1.

"It has changed the relationship with everyone in my life, including my ex-husband. All my relationships are now much more honest"- Leah L., Fenton MI, Verbal feedback.

"I feel (the Scales Exercise) has brought my daughter & I closer together. I am so happy because we both have gotten fear out of the way. I do see the expression in the movie Avatar 'I see you'....there is no place of judgment and our spirits can come together. I really do see my daughter now"- Rosemary P., Davison MI, Video Testimonial.

PLANETARY:

"We need to end the struggle we have in this world right now. All the chaos that is going on is about struggle. And I think this (Scales Exercise) would work"- Linda R., Novi MI, Level 1.

"When we liberate ourselves, we can then liberate the world. When we turn away from fear to love on the inside, then we can use that reclaimed power to turn the world away from fear to love. And that's why this is needed in the world today"- Leah L., Fenton MI, Level 3.

"We need more people activated in this extraordinary wave of change...if we don't shift our trajectory, the direction we have been on...is not a very promising one"- Pat F., Ann Arbor MI, Level 1.

"I wish this program could be given as a required course in college, freshmen or sophomore year. We need more compassion and understanding in our world today"- Louise A., Alger MI, Level 2.

"You must be the change you want to see in the world" – Mahatma Ghandi

The Scales Exercise is offered through A Wholenuthalevel Ideation L.L.CCopyright (c) 2010 by Barnitus Wong